The shrink wrap helps keep 'standard' terminals (i.e., not the airlocs) as airtight as possible, and that in turn slows down the oxydisation process that happens to exposed copper (i.e., the speaker cable wire!). Oxydisation is bad because it means you will get a 'dirty' connection and possible signal degregation. The alternative is to make sure your cables are too long, then once a year or so cut the ends back and inch or so to clean wire and re-fit whatever terminals you use(if any).

As to the advice to get cheap terminals from ebay - DON'T! Many of them (partticular the 'Nakamachi') plugs are from China rather than Japan (even from UK sellers - as I found to my cost), and the problem with these cheap fakes is that they are often not actually brass (good conductor) based - eg, mine stuck very easily to a magnet, indicating that they were iron based (and iron is apoor signal conductor compared to copper/brass).

So I then got the QED screw-locs instead (decent price and good service from Lancashire-based Audiovisual online) - and no, they didn't stick to a magnet!

Do you use the shrink wrap yourself with the QED Screwlocs. I suppose the other option would be to wind some insulation tape round the back of the plug to seal it which can be removed later if required.

Although this reply is quite late, I have just found this through internet search and needed to comment as some of the information detailed on later replies is just wrong and/or not relevant to QED cables and interconnects.

QED Airloc connectors are some of the best terminations available for speaker cables. They form a pressure joint, known as a cold-weld, between conductor and connector to become 1-piece of metal. They are Gold-plated over Brass to reduce oxidisation to ensure the finish will last the lifetime of the speaker cable, but also because this Gold plating has a resistance almost as low as Copper to minimise the interruption to the audio signal. This cold-welded connection is very unlikely to work loose or free and AV4Home have numerous customer comments as to the quality of this cable and its termination, these are all visible on the independant review site, Feefo.

QED also sell a Screwloc connector which is a completely different type of connection and allows customers to change/remove any self-terminated speaker cable at any time. This type of connection is not as strong as the cold-welded Airloc connection, as this is held in place by only 2 screws. These screws clamp onto the conductor to provide a good quality connection for everyday audio customers with entry-level upto mid-range hifi systems. Top-of-the-range systems and audiophiles would not entertain this type of connection due to the oxidisation factor, reliablility and strength of connection, and if you want to get really detailed and techincal, due to the difference of resistance that would become apparent due to different interconnection point breaks. QED have invested much time, money and effort in a superb report published back in 1995 that offered customers genuine information based on scientific research and experimentation, regarding important aspects of loudspeaker cable technology and is well worth 5 minutes to read relevant information about speaker terms used to describe products. Internet search "QED Genesis Report" and also see the new updated version of this report "Genesis Report II".

Other comments with my replies here:-

Solder Bucket - Solder has a massive electrical resistance, and unless you have access to Silver solder, AV4Home would really recomend not to use Solder in any audio installation. Although this option is a quick and diy-friendly option, this material will affect the quality of the audio signal but more importantly to most audio users solder can be subject to audio vibrations that can cause micro-cracks in the solder which further increase the resistance or worse can cuase the joint to fracture completely.

I wouldn't botther again - Although this customer is certainly entitled to his opinion in a later reply when asked to further qualify his opionin he states a speaker cable that is not a QED cable. AV4Home has an excellent customer history for QED speaker cables without termination issues and they just dont occur with Airloc connections produced by QED trained sellers, although we have no history of use of these connectors with non-QED cables. This 2nd reply also makes comment to a tool used to fix the issue, which is not available to non-QED dealers and so have no idea what cable or termination this customer has but suspect this is not QED or an Airloc termination problem.

Nickel Plated plugs - This material has over double the resistance of the cable conductor, which is not good for signal quality. This reply also mention Solder bucket type and if these materials (Copper conductor - Solder joint - Nickel connector) were combined the resulting loss would be clearly audible. AV4Home would not recomend this material for use with any audio installation.

This reply is not intended to discredit any reply or post here but to clarify specific QED information regarding Airloc and Screwloc connections.

Although this reply is quite late, I have just found this through internet search and needed to comment as some of the information detailed on later replies is just wrong and/or not relevant to QED cables and interconnects.

QED Airloc connectors are some of the best terminations available for speaker cables. They form a pressure joint, known as a cold-weld, between conductor and connector to become 1-piece of metal. They are Gold-plated over Brass to reduce oxidisation to ensure the finish will last the lifetime of the speaker cable, but also because this Gold plating has a resistance almost as low as Copper to minimise the interruption to the audio signal. This cold-welded connection is very unlikely to work loose or free and AV4Home have numerous customer comments as to the quality of this cable and its termination, these are all visible on the independant review site, Feefo.

QED also sell a Screwloc connector which is a completely different type of connection and allows customers to change/remove any self-terminated speaker cable at any time. This type of connection is not as strong as the cold-welded Airloc connection, as this is held in place by only 2 screws. These screws clamp onto the conductor to provide a good quality connection for everyday audio customers with entry-level upto mid-range hifi systems. Top-of-the-range systems and audiophiles would not entertain this type of connection due to the oxidisation factor, reliablility and strength of connection, and if you want to get really detailed and techincal, due to the difference of resistance that would become apparent due to different interconnection point breaks. QED have invested much time, money and effort in a superb report published back in 1995 that offered customers genuine information based on scientific research and experimentation, regarding important aspects of loudspeaker cable technology and is well worth 5 minutes to read relevant information about speaker terms used to describe products. Internet search "QED Genesis Report" and also see the new updated version of this report "Genesis Report II".

Other comments with my replies here:-

Solder Bucket - Solder has a massive electrical resistance, and unless you have access to Silver solder, AV4Home would really recomend not to use Solder in any audio installation. Although this option is a quick and diy-friendly option, this material will affect the quality of the audio signal but more importantly to most audio users solder can be subject to audio vibrations that can cause micro-cracks in the solder which further increase the resistance or worse can cuase the joint to fracture completely.

I wouldn't botther again - Although this customer is certainly entitled to his opinion in a later reply when asked to further qualify his opionin he states a speaker cable that is not a QED cable. AV4Home has an excellent customer history for QED speaker cables without termination issues and they just dont occur with Airloc connections produced by QED trained sellers, although we have no history of use of these connectors with non-QED cables. This 2nd reply also makes comment to a tool used to fix the issue, which is not available to non-QED dealers and so have no idea what cable or termination this customer has but suspect this is not QED or an Airloc termination problem.

Nickel Plated plugs - This material has over double the resistance of the cable conductor, which is not good for signal quality. This reply also mention Solder bucket type and if these materials (Copper conductor - Solder joint - Nickel connector) were combined the resulting loss would be clearly audible. AV4Home would not recomend this material for use with any audio installation.

This reply is not intended to discredit any reply or post here but to clarify specific QED information regarding Airloc and Screwloc connections.